


Isolation

by Authour_Nim



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Middle School, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Asexual Character, Bullying, Coming Out, Depression, Fluff, Gen, Homophobia, I think this turns into an OT3 relationship??, I'm Sorry, If You Squint - Freeform, My OC is oddly oblivious for a smart person, Not every tag happens at the beginning, Not really a secret but eh, OT3 friendship, Oops, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective!Xiumin, Random dramatic situations, School trip! Yay :D, Someone protect Zhang Yixing, Tags Are Hard, Tags Contain Spoilers, These tags are probably not in order, We'll find out soon enough, Why is Xiumin so angery, accidentally, if you look really closely, this is super angsty, you'll see it more later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-08-15 13:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8058109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Authour_Nim/pseuds/Authour_Nim
Summary: "I'm sorry, but I don't really make friends..."Nam Joohyuk wasn't really fond of people. Often times, they were loud, obnoxious, rude, and dramatic.However, when he met Xiumin for the first time, his perception changed a bit. When he met Lay, something had changed.





	1. "They Don't Pick on You, Do They?"

**Author's Note:**

> Hi~~! So this is my first posted work, I hope you like it! (^^♪

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Yeah, why? I mean, why wouldn't you want to make friends? Isn't that really important in middle school?"

He wasn't really fond of people. Often times, they were loud, obnoxious, rude, and dramatic. Nam Joo Hyuk himself didn't find that he meshed well with many people. He had maybe two people who he could really call his friends.

∆

The friend he had known for the longest was Kim Minseok, or as preferred, Xiumin. He'd met him when he was in his first year of middle school. He was a seventh grader and Xiumin was a year older than him. He had been wandering the sparsely occupied halls alone at lunch one day and ran into the boy. Xiumin had darted out a classroom and hasn't anticipated that they might someone walking past. At the impact, Joohyuk's stance wasn't steady enough to keep him from toppling over.

After landing on his rear, he glanced around to find that the person who collided with him had landed beside him. The pin on his blazer indicated that he was an eighth grade student and Joohyuk quickly got up. Dusting off his trousers with one hand, he offered out the other to his elder, mind the boy got angry at him for being disrespectful. When the elder finally noticed the outstretched hand, he looked at Joohyuk with a slightly crooked smile.

Joohyuk did his best to pull up the boy with the little upper body strength he had, but from how easy the boy got up, or almost seemed like he never needed the help in the first place. As Joohyuk observed him dust himself off, he took in the boy's nice features. His brown, swept-to-the-side hair and hipster-like glasses had Joohyuk staring for longer than he had realized.

“Oh…! Pardon me…” He quickly said, realising he nearly forgot to apologise. His small voice was almost too quiet to hear. Had Xiumin not been standing in such a close proximity, he wouldn't have caught the apology.

“Ahh no, don't worry! I should have checked before I ran.” He chuckled in reply, paying Joohyuk's shoulder. The physical contact made the younger boy flinch away and Xiumin frowned.

“Hey, people don't pick on you, do they?” He asked softly, but his tone of voice indicated that he was bothered by how the boy reacted to the friendly gesture. Joohyuk eyes widened and he shook his head.

“No… I mean, sometimes... I get pushed around a bit, but it means nothing… It's just because I'm quiet…” He looked at the ground, suddenly finding interest in the black loafers he had on. He didn't want to be dishonest, but he would rather not told the boy the extent to which his classmates liked to torment him.

The girls often did nothing more than talk about him and laugh, occasionally making fun of how girls would never talk to him because his family couldn't afford to get him a phone. The boys, however, were a nightmare. They would push past him, knock his books out of his hands, steal the few pencils he had, blame him for things he didn't do, they just never stopped. He never stopped them because to him, it was a waste of energy in his opinion.

“No, that's not right!” Xiumin exclaimed, making him look up again. “Hey, what's your name?”

“Oh… I'm Nam Joohyuk…” He didn't bother asking for the other boy’s name back, since he has never really had friends anyways. He had introduced himself to people many times, but even the people who took some sort of interest in him eventually lost it. He didn't really speak much, let alone interact with other people.

“Well Joohyuk, my name's Kim Minseok, but call me Xiumin!” He said, flashing a toothy grin. He took his hand that was resting on his younger’s shoulder and offered it out in a handshake. Before Joohyuk could catch himself, a skeptical expression crossed his features. It was only for a fraction of a second, but Xiumin caught a glimpse of it and lower his hand. The sad expression that took over his face made Joohyuk feel bad. He knew the boy was being nice, but he already knew how this would go.

“I’m sorry,” He bowed deeply, not bringing his eyes back up to his elder’s face. “But I don’t make friends…” It was a sad thing to say, but it was true. He had long stopped trying to make friends with people. In his mind, it made no sense to try to befriend someone when he had no interest in being around people generally. He couldn’t stand school because of the abundance of strangers that would flow through it, wreaking havoc and creating chaos here and there, but he liked learning so they countered each other in some sort of wicked harmony.

“Why?” The question took him by surprise. Normally, people would be offended and call him rude or antisocial, which the latter was not wrong, but Xiumin hadn’t been offended or called him anything. Joohyuk looked up to see genuine curiosity on the boy’s face.

“Why…?” He repeated, not really taking in that he should probably answer the boy.

“Yeah, why? I mean, why wouldn’t you want to make friends? Isn’t that really important in middle school?” Joohyuk didn’t know what to say. In fact, why was he even holding a conversation with this stranger?

When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to answer, Xiumin smiled and patted his shoulder again. This time, he only brought his hands up in a nervous defensive position. Xiumin shook his head.

“Do you like engineering?”

“Engineering…?” Joohyuk looked up behind his large, circular glasses before nodding his head. “Um, I like to build things… I find it fun to figure out exactly how things work and operate… so I can make one of my own… maybe even make it better…”

“Awesome! Same here! You wanna join my club?”

“There’s a club…?” He’s surprised he hadn’t heard of this club, but then again, he never listened to the morning announcements or the class president’s weekly speeches since he was usually listening to music until first period started.

“Yup! I’m the president.” Xiumin announced proudly, standing up straighter. “So whaddaya say?”

“Oh… well… I’m not really fond of clubs… too many people… besides, it would be boring to go by myself…” Joohyuk realised that his tongue slipped a bit too late and he turned away in embarrassment. He never dared to tell anyone that he didn’t have friends but he was getting a bit too comfortable with the boy and had lowered his caution levels.

“Hey, I have an idea!” Xiumin grabbed his shoulders and spun him to look at him. He shook his head at the fear that flooded into Joohyuk’s expression.

“Okay, so we really need to fix that,” He said, referring to the fetal position that Joohyuk looked like he was trying to curl up into, “but we have time for that later. As for my idea, whaddaya say we be friends?” Joohyuk couldn’t have looked more surprised if he tried.

“With me…?” He really couldn’t believe that this boy had really said that despite everything that he had already said about being friends with people.

“Yeah with you! You don’t really seem to have friends -- for what reason, I don’t know, but I think that we could be really good friends, regardless of whatever reasons that you don’t have friends now.” The bell to signify that lunch was ending and Xiumin looked behind himself in panic.

“Ah, crap. I gotta go, but I want to hear what your answer is first.” He looked back at his younger schoolmate and cocked his head to the side. “So, what do you say, Joohyuk?”

“Umm… well I guess that I’m okay with being friends, but--”

“Fan _tas_ tic! Alright then, friend, I’m going to head off to class now, but I’ll see you soon enough!” He exclaimed, giving him a friendly shoulder pat. He waved his farewell and jogged off to the stairwell.

Joohyuk stood in shock for a moment before mentally shaking himself out of it. It was only a matter of time before Minseok would see that he wasn’t friend-material. He took off in the opposite direction, towards his classes. He wasn’t going to see the boy again, this was the first time he had seen him in his three months at the school, and he saw a lot of people being the loner he was.

He chuckled to himself as he went up the stairs. _I’m not going to see him again. He probably wasn’t even really, he was a hallucination_. He had a “friend” now, but really, what difference would he make in Joohyuk’s life?

 

Well surprisingly, a large difference.

 

About two days later, he still hadn’t seen his sunbae (elder) again, but it didn’t bother him. He could avoid people for months if he tried. He was good at figuring out the schedules of people that were often around him, which became useful if he was trying to avoid them.

He was sitting with his headphones on, listening to his usual music at the back corner of the classroom. He gazed out the windows, not looking at anything in particular. The relaxing R&B music made him feel at peace, getting him into the condition he needed to be in for the rest of the school day. At the front of his class, the class president was rambling on about whatever a class president was supposed to talk about. Joohyuk never bothered to listen from day one, so he even couldn’t say what he might be talking about.

In his peripheral view, he saw some kids approach him and internally groaned. He continued looking out the window in hopes that the boys would leave him alone but unknowingly, he provoked them. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder before it shoved him into the wall. He had just barely reacted fast enough to put his hand beside his head so that his knuckles impacted the wall rather than his head. He opened the eyes that he had squinted shut when he felt the hand touch his shoulder and tentatively looked at the boys who were surrounding him.

It was the class president and two other boys that he recognized, but never learned the names of. Kim Junmyeon, the class president, gestured to take off the headphones with an irritated smile. Joohyuk did as he was asked -- or rather, commanded to do, bringing the headphones down to rest around his neck.

“Ya, what the hell is your problem?” Joohyuk hadn’t even said or done anything and he was already being attacked. He opened his mouth to answer Junmyeon, but he was -- unsurprising -- slapped before he could say anything.

“Who do you think you are? What makes you think that your ears are too good for the words coming out of Junmyeon’s mouth?” The boy who had hit him demanded. He looked up at the black-haired boy and rather than responding, Joohyuk rubbed the now reddening hand mark on his cheek to try to sooth the pain. Clearly, this reflexive reaction was the wrong reaction and he was rewarded with a slap to the other cheek.

“Wrong answer, dipshit.” The other boy with dark red hair had slapped him this time. Joohyuk heard a chorus of laughter erupt from behind the wall of bullies and was reminded that his classmates were all assholes. They all sat there, every single one of them, and watched as he got tormented. No one helped him. No one asked if he was okay after. They just laughed at him for not fighting back.

 

_“Joohyuk, fight back! What are you, a little girl?”_  
“Joohyuk, you act like a wuss, grow some balls!”  
“Look at him, he’d probably hide behind a girl if he was attacked.”  
“Even a 3-year-old girl would fight back more than you!”

He would even get the same crap from the girls.

_“Joohyuk, no one is ever going to like you, you’re too weak.”_  
“I would never want to date a weakling like Joohyuk.”  
“Guys, how much do you wanna bet that I could beat up Joohyuk?”  
“You’d have to pay me a million dollars to sit beside him! I don’t want his weakness to rub off onto me!”

 

He absolutely hated every single one of the students that were in his class. They knew that he didn’t stand up for himself ever, so when he was forced to do group assignments, his group dumped all of the work onto him. He would do his work and all their work, but what they didn’t know is that he always told the teacher who did the work and who was claiming to do work. Truly, he got nothing out of it, but the feeling of screwing them over substituted the vengeance.

“How am I supposed to know that he’s saying something that I need to listen to…? I’ve never even heard his speeches…” Joohyuk finally answered after a few seconds, making sure to regulate his tone before speaking.

“How rude of you! Do you think you’re--”

“Listen,” Joohyuk cut off Junmyeon with a frustrated tone, “I have come into class every morning wearing these headphones, music on full blast. I only take them off when I see our first period teacher walk into class, okay?” There was a small hush around the room as this was the first time Joohyuk’s voice was so loud (and by loud, I mean a normal speaking voice). He watched as Junmyeon placed a hand on his chest daintily and scoff before looking at him with an intense gaze.

“Okay?” He chortled dryly. “ _Okay_?! Do you think it’s--” Junmyeon didn’t bother to finish his sentence, he just tossed a hand up in some sort of exasperation. Now it only became clear that this was a signal when the two boys inched forwards with wicked smirks on their faces. Of course, it was far too late to escape from them and Joohyuk already knew he hadn't listened to enough songs yet to hope that the teacher would enter the classroom. He knew it was going to be a feeble attempt, but he wasn't prepared to have to replace the headphones his dad had worked hard for.

The moment the tallest of the two boys -- the red haired one -- reached to grab his collar, Joohyuk head-butted him in the chin. The boy cried out and stumbled back into the class president, the two of them falling onto someone who was sitting behind them. The other boy scowled at him as he got up at tried to run. He was grabbed by his elbow, but Joohyuk wasn't having it today and swung his other elbow back into the boy's chest with force. He felt the grip on his arm slip, just enough for him to move further, but not enough that he could fully get away. Around him, he heard the absolute chaos from the students at his sudden act of, no doubt, idiotic courage.

The feeling as the boy started pulling him back away from the door was almost defeating, but what should he have expected? It was foolish to leave his bag at the desk anyways; It would be raided and trashed, sending nearly 250 000 won ($250) down the drain. He didn't think his actions full thoroughly because the safety of his headphones was being prioritized over everything else.

He tugged as hard as he could, but he knew that he was too weak to pull away from the boy. As he felt his other arm become captive, he knew that he was done for. He could only make the sad attempt to try to run away still, but he knew that two strong people would win against a single, weak person.

“Where do you think you're going?!” Snarled Junmyeon, who had come around to stand to the side of them, but Joohyuk didn't bother to respond. He tried one last time to pull away, looking up at the door one more time before giving in.

 

It was only a short second, but in the doorway was Xiumin, a look of horror plastered across his face. He only saw a glimpse of the boy before his head got yanked back.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?” Xiumin's shout rang out through the room. Like some sort of Christmas miracle, everything stopped. Joohyuk's arms were released, his hair was let go of, and the chaotic sounds from his classmates silenced. Xiumin stomped into the class, visibly radiating anger. He stopped in front of Joohyuk and the boys, looking between all the faces as if assessing the situation.

“You… It's you guys.” The class was dead silent. It was rare to see a sunbae in the classroom, let alone an angry one. No one dared to make a sound. “ _YOU GUYS ARE THE ONES WHO ARE PICKING ON JOOHYUK_!”

“Minseok sunbae-nim--” Junmyeon placed a hand on Xiumin's forearm but flinched away when he tensed up and balled his hands into fists, scowling at the boy.

“Shut up, Junmyeon. You're no better than anyone in here.” Xiumin turned to look at the class. “WHO SAW WHAT WAS HAPPENING?” There was no response from the body of students, all of them looking down. This wasn't acceptable for Xiumin. He took his balled fist and rammed it into the door of a locker cubby, causing all the students to flinch at the loud sound.

“ARE YOU DEAF?! I ASKED YOU GUYS A DAMN QUESTION, ANSWER ME!” One by one, all the students meekly rose their hands. While this was what Xiumin had asked, he was not happy with the answer. “YOU GUYS ARE SO DAMN LUCKY I HAVEN'T ALREADY TURNED THIS CLASSROOM UPSIDE DOWN!”

“Sunbae-nim, what brings you to our class?” The black-haired boy asked nervously, his voice audibly trembling.

“Oh, you wanna know why I'm here, Shit Baekhyun?” The word play on the boy's last name was vicious and the boy looked down in shame.  
_(A/N: For those who don't know, “Byun” is Baekhyun’s last name, which is roughly equivalent to “Shit”.)_

“Sunbae-nim... that's kinda harsh…” The red-head spoke up, but it would have been better if he had just said nothing.

“Chanyeol, do me a favour from now and just shut the fuck up.” A small collective gasp came from the class, drawing Xiumin's attention back to what was going on. “I came here to find my friend Joohyuk and update him about the engineering club, BUT I CAME INTO THE ROOM TO SEE THIS BULLSHIT INSTEAD!”

“Your... friend?” Junmyeon repeated, shock evident in his voice.

“Yeah, _my_ friend.” Xiumin snapped back. There was another chorus of gasps from the class with a few people whispering _“Joohyuk has friends???”_. He caught one person who didn't whisper it quiet enough.

“WHO SAID THAT?! WHO ASKED IF JOOHYUK HAD FRIENDS?!?” Everyone flinched at his loud voice and the class quieted quickly. The boy who whispered it last timidly raised his hand and the anger in Xiumin's eyes flared up even more.

He turned towards the locker cubbies and saw a box of paper clips sitting on top of it. He grabbed it and whipped around, throwing the open box at the boy. The boy shielded himself with his hands and the contents of the small box exploded all over him.

“Yeah! For your fucking information, Jongdae, Joohyuk has a friend and I am that friend!” Xiumin hissed.

Joohyuk's head was spinning. Everything that was happening was all too surreal. He was, for the first time, being stood up for. He had so many questions, like why Xiumin had made such a commotion for him, or how he had even found his class. He felt himself rocking slightly and his vision started to get spotty.

Xiumin saw Joohyuk rocking in his peripheral vision and immediately turned his head to look at him. He shuffled over to ask if he was okay, but ended up having to break his fall. Joohyuk’s eyes rolled back and he fell forwards into Xiumin's arms. Xiumin looked up at Junmyeon and scowled again.

“I'm taking him to the infirmary. If you guys do anything to him again, I will destroy your classroom.” While he was talk to Junmyeon, the threat was universal. “Give me his bag.” Baekhyun turned hastily to pick up the boy's belongs. “AND AS FOR YOU GUYS,” Xiumin started, turning his head towards the class, “IF YOU EVEN _THINK_ OF TELLING THE TEACHER, I WILL HUNT DOWN _EVERY. SINGLE. ONE OF YOU._ ” Everyone, and I mean everyone, nodded their heads. It was a mutual understanding. Xiumin would fuck up everything that had to do with class 7-A if anyone dared to rat him out.

He hoisted the smaller boy onto his shoulder and took the bag from Baekhyun. He spun on his heel and left the room, leaving 33 seventh graders in shock.

 

Joohyuk knew that Xiumin was a real friend to keep when he woke up in the cot and saw that he was waiting, sitting cross-legged, on the cot beside him, nose-deep in a book.

“Oh, you finally woke up! Gee, I felt like you were never gonna wake up!” The boy chimed when he saw Joohyuk shift. In turn, Joohyuk could only smile. He hasn't ever felt so happy in a while, so he basked in the feeling. He had someone who he, for once, felt like he could rely on.

Xiu surprised him by getting up and diving onto his cot, landing on his lap. He wrapped his arms around Joohyuk's middle and hugged him. This time, Joohyuk didn't flinch but rather, he hugged him back.

∆


	2. "Maybe I can be your guide?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Joohyuk's last year in middle school and he meets someone who is a lot more problematic than they realize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe I should let you guys know that I based [ Nam Joohyuk](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CzaZkYRXcAAHzWY.jpg) off of an actually person. I dunno, it's affects how I see the interaction.

His second friend, he met in his last year of middle school. Xiumin had moved onto high school and couldn't visit him as frequently, so he was left alone again. It was a little lonely, since he had gotten so used to having someone else who voluntarily “bothered” him.

∆

It was the second day of school and he was in the library browsing for some books on space shuttles when he bumped into someone. He hadn't _really_ been watching where he was going, his eyes locked on the spines of the books.

“Oh, joesonghamnida! [Oh, sorry!]” He apologised, bowing slightly. He looked up to see the boy's confused face.

“Um, jeoneun hankook-eo… malsseumhae… ah, haji maseyo… [I don't speak Korean...]” The boy replied in a butchered Korean accent.

“Oh, okei okei.” Joohyuk answered back in English, chuckling awkwardly. “You are… Chinese?” It was one of the few things he could say in English, although if you think about it, where's the logic in talking to someone in a language neither of you can really speak?

“Chinese? Oh oh, yes yes.” The boy smiled, his dimples popping into sight. Joohyuk let out a breath and smiled. Being the bookworm that he was, he had been learning Mandarin for just over three years. He could speak it somewhat fluently, a lot more fluently than English.

“哦好的，再一次对你说对不起... [Ah okay, well then sorry again...]” Joohyuk said in Mandarin this time, wanting to laugh at the boy's surprised expression.

“你说普通话?? [You speak Mandarin??]” He asked, almost confused. Joohyuk laughed and nodded. “哦，最后! 有些人可以说普通话。[Ah, finally! Someone who speaks Mandarin.]”

“Is this your first year here...?”

“Yeah, but I came in the wrong grade. I'm only here for one year.” This surprised Joohyuk a bit. He looked down at the boy's blazer and indeed there was a seniors’ button sitting under the school's crest.

“Oh, you're in my grade…!” Joohyuk cheered, pointing to his own pin. “We both have a seniors’ pin…” The boy flashed his dimples again and for the first time in years, he wanted to ask the boy what his name was. _This is Xiu’s doing_ , He chuckled silently. He decided he might as well since he had no one to be around now. _Wooow, look at that. I want to be around people. Ha, thanks Xiu._

“So, what's your name…?” Joohyuk asked, taking a book off the shelf titled _The breakdown of the aeroplane_.

“Oh, I'm Zhang Yixing, but you can just call me Lay.” He answered with the same dimpled grin. “What’s your name?”

“Nam Joohyuk… Nice to meet you, Lay…”

“Joohyuk, do you know anyone else who can speak Mandarin?”

Joohyuk looked up in thought as he tried to remember. He knew Xiumin knew Mandarin, but he wasn't at the school anymore. There were faces that he knew spoke some Mandarin, but he couldn't give the people names, so it was of no use.

“Sorry, I don't know their names…” Yixing shrugged his shoulders at this.

“Ah, it's fine. I'll learn Korean soon enough, but it's gonna be hard to adjust.” He laughed dry and airily. Joohyuk took another book off the shelf and added it to his other ones. He felt the impulse to befriend the boy, but he wasn't sure that it would be a good idea.

“Do you not have a guide…?” He was going to mentally slap himself after this for continuing the conversation.

“Ah, well no. I met someone who was supposed to be my go-to person, but I don't remember their face.” Yixing pouted. As the boy fell into deep thought, Joohyuk took the time to study him. A boy with wavy curly black hair, relaxed facial features, and dimples that Joohyuk couldn't deny were adorable, stood in front of him.

“Maybe I can be your guide…?” Joohyuk held back the impulse to physically slap himself. He was making a mistake by even continuing the interaction with Yixing, but he knew better than to leave the lost boy by himself in a new language environment.

“Really? Would you do that for me?” Yixing questioned, his voice hopeful. Dammit, he really walked himself into this one.

“Yeah!... If you want… I could even be… actually nevermind…” He caught himself before he made said it. Better in the long run if he said nothing.

“Wait, I don't understand… Is that a _yes, I will help you_ , or a _nevermind, I won't do that_?” Yixing inquired, confused. Joohyuk chuckled.

“Yes, I will help you.” He answered in Korean. Yixing smiled his adorable dimpled smile and bowed.

“Thank you very much, I will… cherish you as a friend!” He chimed, stumbling a bit with the Korean.

“Oh… friend? I never--”

“Yes, you will be my best friend! I'm going to do the same for you too!” Joohyuk shook his head and bowed, nearly dropping his books.

“I’m sorry…” He started in Mandarin, “I don't think you will want to be my friend… I'm not really a person who has lots of friends… I mean--”

“Hey, I don't mind! I'll be your friend even if you aren't popular! I can tell you're a nice person, so I won't be bothered you have a few quirks. I mean, who doesn't?” Yixing opened his arms and was met by a confused Joohyuk. The confusion made him lower his arms a bit.

“… What are you doing?”

“Isn't this normal??”

“What do you mean…?

“Don't Koreans guys hug their friends??”

“…Who told you that??”

“I've seen Korean male idols do it all the time! It's not a thing universally??”

“… Not really…”

“Aww, so I can't hug you?”

“… I mean, you could but--” Joohyuk was cut off as Yixing took him by surprise and hugged him. At first it was beyond awkward, but the least the boy could do in return was pat him on the back. "-- that's just really freaking weird, Lay..." Joohyuk's voice was slightly muffled. He couldn't deny that Yixing’s hug was really soft and warm, but that didn't stop him from feeling super weird.

When Yixing moved away, Joohyuk tried to muster up a smile that just ended up being an awkward grin. He cleared his throat.

“So what are you doing in the library anyways?”

 

And that's how that friendship started. For the next month, they met up in different places and slowly learned about each other. From what Yixing has told him, Joohyuk knew that he had been sent to Korea after pleading with his parents that he would help them expand the family business in the future. In reality, that wasn't why he asked to go to Korea, but he made a promise and said that he was going to keep it.

Yixing lived in a homestay hosted by a couple with a son younger than him by almost 10 years. From what it seemed, Yixing liked living with them but whenever he mentioned the mother, Joohyuk caught how his eyes shifted and his smile dropped to a small frown. Joohyuk never said anything about the small change, but he kept it in mind to watch for that reaction in the future.

Yixing was part of the international 9th year class, so Joohyuk only saw him during their breaks and after school. He was surprised that Yixing would take the after school classes, but it was okay with him since that gave him someone to walk back home with partway.

 

As the year progressed, Junmyeon and the rest of the class started to notice that Xiumin wasn't as involved with Joohyuk because of the year difference. In this break, Junmyeon along with Baekhyun and Chanyeol, took the opportunity to voice snarky comments and belittle Joohyuk, but he never dared to lay a finger on the boy. At one point through the year, Joohyuk ended up stuck with the three of them for a group project.

“Joohyuk, you're going to have to do this project by yourself. _I'm_ not helping.” Dismissed Junmyeon, pushing back from the desk.

“Ya, do you want a grade or not?” Needless to say, Joohyuk's tongue was sharper around Junmyeon since the incidents a few years ago. “I'm not your damn servant, do your own work.” Junmyeon scowled at him and opened his mouth to say something that was never heard.

“Joohyuk, watch that mouth before it meets my fist. You're talking to the class president.” Chanyeol growled, not really paying attention. He was playing a game on his phone that made little pinging sounds every now and then. Joohyuk had half the mind to take the phone and chuck it out the window.

“In the words of Kim Minseok, 'Chanyeol, do me a favour and shut the fuck up’. I talk to Junmyeon like this because he's an ass.” Joohyuk snapped back from behind his textbook. He was trying to look up the process of mitosis and his group was being annoying.

“Joohyuk, why don't _you_ shut up? No one likes you.” Baekhyun hissed, looking up from his phone. This made Joohyuk laugh.

“Says Shit Baekhyun.” He put the textbook down and clasped his hands together to rest his chin on. “Baekhyun, three-fourths of your friends are using you and you're too fucking blind to see that.”

“No they're not!” Baekhyun gasped, placing a hand on his chest. Joohyuk laughed again.

“I can list them, do you want me to? ‘Cuz there's Kim Jo--”

“Just-- just shut up…” Baekhyun huffed, returning his attention to his phone. Joohyuk scoffed quietly and picked up the assignment paper. They had to make a visual summary of what they learned in the biology unit.

“You all know which chapters you want to summarize?” Joohyuk asked, lowering the paper to look at the boys. None of them were paying attention. Joohyuk rolled his eyes. “If you don't do your part, I'll just get the mark on my own. Honestly, I don't give a damn about your grades.”

“Fine! Geez, honestly you're such a pain in the --” Junmyeon’s words were cut off by a violent, earthquake-like explosion that sounded from the hallway. The room shook, pencils rolling off of desks, papers on tables being displaced, students falling over or gripping on to their chairs, there was chaos everywhere. When the rumble stopped, mass panic flooded through the room in response to the fire alarms sounding.

“Class! Class, evacuate immediately!” The elderly teacher croaked, trying to stand up. Two or so students went to try and help her up and out of the building. Rather than evacuating in an orderly fashion, people were running opposite to the explosion, pushing others out of the way in favour of their own safety. Joohyuk stepped out to stand closer to the direction of the explosion. He was smarter than to try to take the same exit that everyone else took. He wouldn't get out of the building any safer.

He jogged towards the smoke-filled hallway in favour of the fire exit that for some idiotic reason, no one went through. As he got closer to the room, another explosion rattled the building, knocking him over a bit. In his blurry vision, he saw someone lying back up on the floor close to the room. Joohyuk thought for a moment whether risking his life for this sprawled-out human was _really_ worth it, but he might as well. If he was the body, he'd want to be saved too.

Covering his mouth and nose, he crawled over to the body to check if it was alive. As he got closer, he saw that the person was a boy with black hair. He questioned why the boy hadn't bulldozed his way out of the room too, but proceed to turn him over anyways.

“ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS??!” It was Yixing. Zhang Lay Yixing was lying unconscious on the ground. The words that came out of Joohyuk was simply in disbelief. The boy had burn marks on his face and a busted lip. There was a shallow gash that ran down the side of his neck. If he looked like this, _why_ had no one helped him??  
Joohyuk knew he wasn’t the strongest person in the world, but today he was going to have to be because there was no way he could just abandon the boy. With all the might, strength, power, you name it, that was vested in him, he dragged Yixing by the armpits to the fire exit.

 

“Na Rim Seok?”  
“Here!”  
“Nam Mi Ran?”  
“Here!”  
“Nam Joo Hyuk?”

There was no reply from the group of students.

“Nam Joo Hyuk??”

Everyone started looking around, wondering why he hadn’t answered.

“Nam Joo Hyuk!?!? Where is Nam Joo Hyuk?!”

The class began to chatter, growing increasingly worried that Joohyuk had gotten trapped in the building. Even Junmyeon, who couldn’t give a damn about him, was worried.

“[Mrs.] Gyo seonsaeng-nim, what’s going on?” Asked a nearby student teacher who had noticed the panicking elderly lady.

“Jiseom-ssi, I can’t find one of my students!” Croaked Mrs. Gyo, still searching for Joohyuk.

“Which student?”

“Nam Joo Hyuk!”

“Okay seonsaeng-nim, continue attendance for the rest of your students, I’ll inform the administration about Joohyuk.” The teacher said and bowed. As he walked away, Mrs. Gyo continued the roll call. Everyone was out of the building except Joohyuk.

“I'M MISSING A STUDENT!” Yelled another teacher. The class turned to see Mr. Kang, an international teacher, who was as frazzled as Mrs. Gyo. The same student teacher jogged over to Mr. Kang and asked who he was missing.

“Zhang Yixing! Jiseom-ssi, I think he got left behind when the explosion happened!”

“Why do you think that??” Jiseom questioned, but was answered when the speakers blared an announcement.

“ _WE HAVE REPORTED THAT THE EXPLOSION OCCURRED IN AN INTERNATIONAL CLASSROOM, ROOM 324. THE EXPLOSION WAS CAUSED BY A CHEMICAL REACTION. WE ARE TAKING THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS TO PUT OUT THE FIRE._ ” Mr. Kang let out a cry of distress.

“I think Yixing is still in there!!” He cried, running his hands through his hair. Jiseom patted him on the shoulder.

“[Mr.] Kang seonsaeng-nim, it's going to be okay. They'll find him.” He soothed.

“Ya! I think I see someone over by the building!” Yelled a student from one of the eighth grade classes. Both the international class and 9-A turned look in the direction he was pointing. In the distance, rounding a corner, was a male student that was hunched over and facing away from them. A fireman who had also spotted the person jogged over to identify the boy.

To the surprise of everyone watching, he bent in front of the boy only to pick up another boy. As he hoisted the boy onto his shoulders, he let the other boy lean against him. Slowly, the man walked away from the building with the boys. It was quiet as the classes waited with hopes they were who they wanted them to be.

“WHO’S MISSING STUDENTS?” The man yelled and Mr. Kang and Mrs. Gyo immediately raised their hands. The man looked down at the boy who was conscious and asked him something. After the boy replied, the man turned to look at the school body again.

“I HAVE NAM JOOHYUK AND ZHANG YIXING, ARE THESE OUR MISSING STUDENTS??” The two teachers nodded and everyone let out a sigh of relief. Mrs. Gyo looked like she was going to faint as the firefighter brought the two boys to the ambulance.

 

As it turned out, Lay suffered from a concussion caused by the explosions and it made him blackout. Joohyuk had ended up passing out in the ambulance because of the excessive smoke inhalation. He was in good shape again after they did a few procedures on him, but his friend wasn't conscious.

After what seemed like forever, Lay finally woke up. It had been over 5 hours since he had passed out and the sun was in the process of setting. The room was softly lit by the orange light spilling in through the large single-panel window. Joohyuk sat in a chair that was beside the window, watching the sun slowly dip below the horizon. He heard Lay shifting and turned his head towards the boy.

“Well, what do you know… Hi Lay.” Joohyuk greeted with a small smile. Lay slowly sat up and rubbed his face, feeling tubes pull on his hands.

“Hi Joohyuk.” He looked out the window before looking back at him. “What time is it?”

“Almost 7:30… You were out for a while.” Joohyuk said nonchalantly. Joohyuk peered at the boy as he sat in the bed and got up, going over to a counter space opposite to the bed. He picked up a cloth and wet it, proceeding to go back over to Lay. He offered the cloth out and watched the boy’s face contort into confusion. “Here.”

“What’s this for?” Lay inquired, not taking the cloth.

“...You don’t feel it?”

“Feel what??” Joohyuk sighed at the boy’s obliviousness and bent down slightly to be eye-level with him. It was then that Lay felt the blood drip onto his arm. Joohyuk dabbed his bleeding lip and wiped the blood off Lay’s arm.

“You rubbed your face and your lip started bleeding again… How do you not feel something like that?” Joohyuk asked as he walked back over to the sink to wash off the cloth. Hanging the cloth over the edge of the sink, he walked over to press a button on the side of Lay’s bed and went back to his seat by the window.

“I paged the doctor.” Joohyuk said when he saw the boy open his mouth. The boy nodded his head and adjusted his pillows so he could lean against them.

“Say, about the explosion… what happened?” Lay looked up and gave Joohyuk a cautious smile that looked embarrassed.

“Oh… so that explosion _may or may not_ have been caused by me.” Joohyuk’s eyes widened.

“What!? You did that??” Lay rubbed his neck, feeling the stitches under his palm.

“I didn’t do it on purpose! It just happened to be that my partner for the lab went to talk to their friend when we were supposed to get the proper chemicals to mix. I was reading the instructions and…” Lay looked up at Joohyuk. “I couldn’t understand them because it was all written in Korean and my reading skills aren’t the best…”

“Oh my god…” Joohyuk face palmed.

“I matched the label of one of the containers to the instructions and I don’t know what happened!”

“What the hell were you mixing!?”

“Water and something else. Um, I think the container said ‘kallyum’ on it.” Joohyuk’s eyes widened. ‘Kallyum’ was the word for ‘Potassium”.

“Lay, how much did you put in the flask...?” Lay shrugged.

“Everything in the container. It was like a block of the thing.” _This boy…_ , thought Joohyuk.

“Lay, which sentence was the word in?”

“Um… I think it was the last sentence.

“Did you read any of the words ‘modu sayonghaji mashibshio’ in the sentence??? [Trans: Do not use all…]” Lay mulled over the words and nodded after a moment. “For fucks sake, Lay…” The instructions had told him _not_ to use _all_ of the potassium. He dumped the whole block of potassium into the water and caused a massive explosion. What makes matters worst is the fact that the hydrogen produced can -- and probably did -- cause further explosions.

“What??”

“Lay, for the sake of the school and your safety, don’t ever do a lab by yourself.” Lay chuckled and looked up as he heard the doctor enter the room.

“After this, they probably won’t let me touch the containers.”

 

Within three weeks after the explosion, Lay’s burn marks healed and his stitches were removed. The scar on his neck never faded away fully, as a reminder to never use chemicals again. The international classroom was repaired and the class settled back into the room again. Everything was back to normal and running smoothly once more. At one point, on a Friday at lunch, Lay invited Joohyuk over to his house.

“What for…?” Joohyuk asked as he exchanged his books at his locker. Lay smiled brightly.

“It’s a surprise~~!” He chimed. Joohyuk scowled.

“I hate surprises. Last time there was a surprise, it was when you blew up your classroom.” Joohyuk stated, closing his locker.

“Hey! No need to be so harsh!” Lay defended as they began to walk towards the stairs. “Come on, this surprise is a good one~.” Joohyuk sighed.

“Fine, but I better have time time to eat my lunch…”

When they got to Lay’s house, Lay asked Joohyuk to stand outside and wait.

“Yixing, what the fuck? Why are you inviting me over just to have me stand outside?” Lay laughed, partway through the door.

“Wow, look at you using my actual name.” Lay shook his head. “Calm down and wait, Joo. I want this to be good.”

Yixing closed the door and slight irritation built up in Joohyuk. Lay was pulling some really funny shit if he thought that he would wait any longer than five minutes. Joohyuk put his headphones on and played one of his favourite songs, leaning near the front door. Near the end of the song, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He paused the song and looked to see Lay with a huge smile plastered across his face. Joohyuk narrowed his eyes.

“Come on~! You’re already here, might as well see why!” Lay chirped and went back through the door. Joohyuk sighed and leaned off the wall to follow.

“Lay, what is it that--”

“SURPRISE!” Lay screeched, holding his hand out towards a table spread with all sorts of dishes. Joohyuk’s jaw dropped.

“You can cook?” Lay nodded. “How many times did you burn down the house making these?” Joohyuk laughed, earning a punch to the shoulder.

“Shut up. I made this as a thank-you-for-not-leaving-me-to-die gift.” Lay explained pulling Joohyuk to the table. Joohyuk was surprised, but he smiled. He sat and ate the food with Lay, talking and laughing about a show that they both loved.

About mid-way, he realized that he really liked being around Lay. Regardless of the trouble that the boy occasionally caused, he actually enjoyed his company. _When did I start liking people?_ No, that statement was wrong, he still didn’t like people. The real question was when did he decide that he wanted to have friends?

He didn’t question it further because he knew he didn’t have a set answer. Instead, he just enjoyed his thank you lunch with Lay.

∆

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me if I missed any typos (゜゜) I was scanning through this pretty fast.


	3. Who are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day Xiumin and Lay met was the first day of school the next year. Joohyuk and Lay were finally in highschool, Xiumin in his second year. Joohyuk had to admit, the first meeting was messy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, so I'm just going to give warning that this chapter is a weird mixture between depressing and humorous? I try, I really do. Also, it's been ages since I posed TT_TT I had writer's block with this chapter, so it might seem a bit messy, sorry!  
> Enjoy? Give me feedback, please! I really want to improve my writing, so let me know what you think!

∆

“Who the fuck is this?” Xiumin demanded the moment he saw Joohyuk and Lay walking towards him.

“Xiu-hyung, I want you to meet my friend… This is Zhang Yixing, or Lay, as he prefers,” Joohyuk announced with a small smile. Rather than seeing the expected smile appear on Xiumin's face, he saw his scowl deepen.

“Hi, nice to meet you, Minseok-hyung! I heard a lot about you--”

“And I haven't heard shit about you.” Xiumin interrupted, crossing his arms. Lay’s face dropped as he looked at the elder boy. Joohyuk looked between the two of them, realising he fucked up. He'd never mentioned Lay to Xiumin in the context of being his friend and Xiumin didn’t trust anybody he called a friend (there were a few incidents where Joohyuk’s “friends” were just using him for good grades). 

“Hyung, that's not true… I've told you about Lay before,” Joohyuk recounted, giving him a weary look. Xiumin huffed.

“Yeah, but you never said he was your friend!”

“Hey,” Lay cut in, “I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression of me, but I think that you and I can be friends if we go--”

“Fuck no! We're not gonna be friends! You can’t be friends with Joohyuk and expect me to be friends with you too!” Xiumin disagreed, scrunching his face up. From an outside perspective, this would be really funny. Xiumin was shorter than both Lay and Joohyuk, the latter being the tallest. The small, indignant hyung was looking up angrily at his taller, confused dongsaeng, all while both of them were being watched helplessly by the tallest of the two younger boys.

“Hyung, don't be like that… it’s not like he took me away from you. Lay is actually really nice.… He's a good friend, trust me.” Joohyuk reasoned. Xiumin looked at him, almost offended.

“This isn't fair!” He whined. “We're separated for one year and you replace me?! Joohyuk, I'm your only best friend! You think that this guy could defend you from anyone?? He's too confused and lost to even register something like that!”

“Hey! I could register something like that, for your information,” Lay defended, becoming annoyed with the elder. He followed up with, “I don't even see how that has anything to do with being a good friend,” muttering under his breath.

“Hyung, I never even thought of replacing you! I never would… Is there really such a huge problem with having more than one best friend…?” Joohyuk asked, again butting heads with the offended Kim Minseok.

“Yes, there is! There can only be one, and I'm not letting this new guy take my rightfully earned place as your best friend. Besides, he's not even Korean! What does he know about our lifestyle??” Lay scoffed at this.

“粗鲁的屁股婊子… [Trans: Rude ass bitch...]” Lay mumbled in Mandarin.

“You wanna fucking go?!?” Xiumin snarled back in Mandarin, pushing Lay’s shoulder.

“I'll fight you, don't try me.” He snapped back, pushing Xiumin back by his chest.

“Guys, calm the fuck down before we get our asses suspended for fighting on the first day of school,” Joohyuk hissed, stepping between them.

“Joo, I was being nice to him and he's being mean for no reason!” Lay complained, returning to speaking in Korean. Joohyuk sighed and took his glasses off to clean them on his shirt.

“Hyung,” He said turning to look at Xiumin, “Apologise to Lay… You're being unreasonable. Lay is my friend and so are you, so stop being like this.” Like a little kid, Xiumin crossed his arms and shook his head furiously, his now bleached hair flipping this way and that.

“I'm not apologising! I meant what I said! I will not hesitate to beat his ass up!” He stated, looking around Joohyuk at Lay to narrow his eyes. Joohyuk put back on his glasses.

“Kim Minseok sunbae-nim…” Joohyuk warned and Xiumin sighed.

“Fine, but don’t call me that.” Joohyuk stepped back so they could speak face to face. “Lay, I promise I won't try to murder you in your sleep.”

“What the -- HYUNG, THAT'S NOT AN APOLOGY!” Joohyuk yelled, automatically putting his arm up in front of Lay. ~~(I say automatically because he had to do the same thing in middle school whenever Lay mispronounced a word that sounded like a swear word.)~~

“Well it's how I apologise. He better take what he can get,” Xiumin huffed, and turned to walk away.

“Thanks?” Lay called, baffled. Joohyuk just shook his head and sighed at Xiumin's retreating back.

“Come on, Lay… He won't hate you forever, don't worry.” Joohyuk said, grabbing Lay by the wrist to tug him along.

“Well _that's_ reassuring.” Lay replied sarcastically, changing his pace to keep up with Joohyuk.

 

Things were rocky for the first month, Xiumin being really bitter about Lay's general presence and Lay trying really hard to get his hyung to like him. Joohyuk made many attempts to get the only two people he could stand stand each other.

“Hyung, let's go on the trip to Busan!” Joohyuk said at lunch one day in early October. Their high school apparently hosted two trips to tourist attractions annually, one each semester. The school president said it helped to build “a close knit bond with our schoolmates”, but Joohyuk was more concerned about building a close knit bond with his only two friends.

“Why? That trip's a waste of time. We can do so much more if we don't go on the trip,” Xiumin reasoned, stuffing noodles in his mouth.

“But it'll be so much fun! Plus, I've never gone on a field trips with my friends to…” Joohyuk paused for a moment to look down in thought before looking up at Xiumin again. “Actually, this is the first time I've ever gone on a trip or had friends to go with.” 

“Dammit, you got me there,” Xiumin sighed, proceeding to swallow his food, “but can you even afford to go? I mean, it's not exactly cheap…”

“Lay offered to pay half in exchange for me tutoring him for three weeks,” Joohyuk shrugged, packing away his empty food container.

“Wait what.” Xiumin dramatically dropped his chopsticks and his jaw fell open. “Why didn't you ask me?!?”

“Hyung, why are you being so sensitive about who I ask to help me?” Joohyuk asked shaking his head.

“What's so good about Lay anyways?! What can he do that I can't?”

“Ya, hyung! I'm literally right here!” Lay piped up beside Xiumin, hitting his arm. Xiumin shoved him back, disregarding the boy.

“That's what's so good about Lay. He tries to be nice everyone, whereas you’re a walking ball of aggression,” Joohyuk dismissed, zipping his bag closed.

“Ya, don't be ungrateful! I was the one that saved your ass because I chewed your whole class out!” Xiumin retorted and the two maknaes laughed.

“Yes, hyung. For that, I'll be forever in your debt,” Joohyuk teased, giving his hyung a hug that was more or less a headlock. “Come on Lay, class starts in a few minutes.”

“Bye hyung!” Lay said as he stood up, waving his hand rapidly. Xiumin scoffed but waved back. The wave was more dismissive than a normal goodbye and Joohyuk saw how Lay's face dropped at the gesture.

When they got to class, Joohyuk took out his phone as Lay went to greet his other friends -- yes, Lay has other friends, he just prefers to hang around with Joohyuk, despite the cold-shouldered Xiumin. Joohyuk sat down and opened up his messenger.

_**{Xiu Hyungie}** _

>   
>  나: Hyung, I think you're being unfair…  
>  시우형이: How????  
>  나: Hyung, Lay hasn't done anything to make you be so mean to him…  
>  시우형이: … But Joohyukkie~~ (ㅎ_ㅎ)  
>  나: Hyung, I know you can see how hard Lay is trying to get you to like him...  
>  시우형이: Joohyukkie~~anggg it's not fair!  
>  나: Hyung, you're not being fair!  
>  나: Why are you being like this??  
>  시우형이: ...  
>  나: Hyung~~~ (ㅡㄷㅡ)  
>  시우형이: Fine…  
>  시우형이: I don't like that you replaced me with Lay.  
> 

Joohyuk recalled the first day of school and made the connection he missed. Not once had there been any mentions of actually jealousy, but that did explain why Xiumin was being so difficult. He was surprised that Xiumin actually was being really touchy about the whole “new friend” situation. Even then, why this hadn’t been said and talked it out earlier was beyond him.

>   
>  나: What?? I never replaced you  
>  시우형이: (ㄱㅗㄱ) Yes you did…  
>  나: Hyung, you know that I wouldn't replace you… You're my first best friend.  
>  나: Is there something else that's bothering you…?  
>  시우형이: …  
>  시우형이: If you have another best friend, am I of any importance anymore?  
> 

Joohyuk could see where this was leading. In truth, his mother had said something like this before she was gone. _“If you're so absorbed in your job, am I of any importance to you when you get home?”_

>   
>  나: …  
>  나: Hyung… are you depressed?  
>  시우형이: What?? No no, I'm fine  
>  나: …  
>  시우형이: …  
>  나: ……  
>  시우형이: How would you know anyways?  
>  나: Aish, really hyung? Now we've gotta talk about this. This is very serious.  
>  시우형이: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Later.  
> 

The bell rang and that was Joohyuk’s cue to put away his phone and get to work. Why? He thought as he took his books out for English. _Why is Xiumin, the first and longest best friend I've had, depressed? Why does this happen to people I know?_

 

 _Nine years ago…_  
_“Umma! Umma, it’s raining outside! Can we go on a walk?”_ Joohyuk called, running up the stairs. He almost collided with the door as he reached for the doorknob. To his surprise, the door was locked. His eyebrow raised and knocked on his mother’s bedroom door softly. _“Umma?”_

 _“Joohyukkie…”_ A strangled voice replied, _“Umma isn’t feeling well today… maybe some other time…”_ Joohyuk’s shoulders slumped.

 _“Umma, you’ve said that every time it’s rain in the last few month! We used to always go on walks when it rained, why are you always sick when it rains?”_ There was a long silence and Joohyuk sighed. _“Umma… can I at least come inside the room this time?”_ There was another silence after that.

_“No…”_

_“Umma…! I miss you…”_ Joohyuk gave one more attempt to see his mother but was met with a deafening silence. Joohyuk turned and heard one last thing before he sulked away.

_“I miss you too, son… I’m going to miss you…”_

He went back downstairs and plopped himself on the couch beside his second oldest brother.

 _“Joomin-hyung~, Umma won’t let me see her. Joomin-hyung, I miss Umma…”_ Joohyuk whined, looking up at his brother. Joomin gave him a sad smile and turned his body to towards his younger brother, resting his hands on his shoulders.

 _“Hyukkie, I miss her too…”_ The elder pulled him in for a hug and patted his back. He pulled away and looked at Joohyuk. _“Hey, maybe we can both try and talk to her.”_

Joohyuk shook his head rapidly. _“No, we can’t.”_ His brother furrowed his eyebrows at this.

_“Why do you say that?”_

_“Because she locked the door.”_

Everything that happened after that was sort of a blur. He remembered seeing the alarmed eyes of his brother, watching his brother run upstairs, hearing the yelling and pounding of a door, the 911 phone call as his brother cried, the medics taking his mother's body away on a stretcher, the waiting in the ER, how his brothers and father cried when his mother was pronounced dead; The ghost-like images haunted him every night for years.

 

After school, Joohyuk bade Lay farewell and walked back home with Xiumin. The sun had already dipped under the horizon, the sky fading from a orange-red hue to a shade of purple. The road they walked on was littered with small shops and apartments but was fairly empty.

All Xiumin had been thinking after their earlier conversation was, _He hates me now. He noticed. He won’t want to be around me anymore. My parents were right._ Now, he was on edge; It was too quiet. Normally, they’d talk about random things that happened during the day, but now there were no words. Xiumin knew Joohyuk was going to say something, there was no way he wouldn’t, but he had yet to speak. It was silent for about five minutes before the elder let out an exasperated sigh.

“What do you want to ask me?” He inquired, knowing that Joohyuk wasn’t the type to speak out until some asked him to. Joohyuk looked at him with an unreadable expression before looking ahead.

“Why, hyung?” At this, Xiumin stopped walking. This was the question he was hoping he wouldn't hear. Joohyuk stopped a few seconds after him and turned to look back.

“... Why is not as simple as you’d think,” He answered when their eyes met. Joohyuk was tired of playing guessing games. He’d been guessing all day and even now, when he asked him upfront, he still had to guess? Joohyuk was not doing this anymore. He walked back to Xiumin and grabbed his shoulders.

“Hyung, when I was six, my mother committed suicide. I never found out why, I couldn’t make a guess, so I _know_ it’s not so simple,” He replied, biting his words. The expression that washed over Xiumin’s face took him aback as he realised when he’d just said. _Wait, that's not how you--_ Xiumin looked down and muttered a condolence. Joohyuk sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. He really _was_ bad at social interactions. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to--”

“No, it’s fine. At least you opened up to me,” The elder replied, looking back up with a small smile. He took Joohyuk’s remaining hand off his shoulder and started to walk again. “Let’s go home, it’s getting late.” Xiumin took a few more steps before he looked back again. Joohyuk hadn’t moved. “Joohyuk-ah--”

“Hyung, I’m not leaving until you tell me why you’re like this,” Joohyuk stated, folding his arms to make a point. Despite seeming stubborn, he was actually very unsure of what he was doing and was willing to stop asking questions. That is, if Xiumin told him to stop.

“Joohyuk, you don’t have to--”

“No. Hyung, I want to know why so I can try to help you. I never knew why with my mother but hyung, if you let me, I might be able to make a difference.” Xiumin inhaled sharply. He couldn’t just say that knowing wouldn’t make a difference, lest he hurt the other’s feelings, but he wasn’t sure if a difference could be made.

“Walk.” He waited until the younger male had caught up to him and they continued their way home. After a moment of absolute silence, Joohyuk snapped his head towards his hyung and opened his mouth to talk.

“A--”

“Look,” Xiumin started, “when you’re made to feel like shit because of what the people who’re supposed to love you say, you might understand.” He bit his lip and took a breath before continuing. “Getting treated like you’re less than human, like something is horribly wrong with you, being told that you’ll never make it through life because of the way you are, hearing it from your _parents_? It kills you. You start to believe it. You don’t know anymore.”

“...Hyung--”

“So that’s why. That’s why I’m depressed.” Xiumin slowed his pace as they reached the intersection they part at. He heaved out a sigh. _I’ve said too much, if I say anymore, he really won’t talk to me…_ “Have I said enough?” Joohyuk pondered for a moment before looking back at him.

“...Can I know why they did that to you?” The younger boy asked tentatively, playing with the strap of his bag. He didn’t want to push it but he felt like he might have the moment the older boy tensed up.

No, no, no, no, no, no-- Xiumin could not, _absolutely_ could not tell him why. How could he tell him? What would he even say? _My parents aren’t very open to_... No, no, he couldn’t say anything about what their reasons were. Oh God, his parents were right, he was a shame to his family and an outcast. The last thing he wanted to do was have the younger boy distance himself because of why. If Joohyuk ever found out he’d connect the dots immediately and as it was, the boy didn’t like being around people so this--

“Hyung, you don’t have to tell me… it’s okay,” Joohyuk spoke up, breaking his thoughts. Xiumin looked at him and was surprised as he was pulled into a hug. “Hyung, please don’t cry…” He hadn’t even realised he was crying. He quickly brought his hands up to wipe his tears onto his sleeve and returned the hug.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--”

“Hyung, it's okay. You can cry, I'm here to pat your back…” Joohyuk reassured him, trailing off because he wasn't sure if that was what he was supposed to say. Joohyuk led a teary-eyed Xiumin further towards his home, making his own commute home a bit longer with each step. After departing from his hyung he walked in contemplation, considering what had been said.

 

He wasn't sure what to do with the new found information. He thought about all the things that he could have done with his mother as he walked into a convenience store. Maybe he could use one of those ideas, he'd had a lot of them in the past few years. He browsed through the selection of sweets, allowing himself to spend money on this one occasion. He picked up a bag of chips and noticed that it sat beside Xiumin's favourite brand. _Maybe I should try getting hyung outside more often first_ , Joohyuk thought as his mind wandered back to him. He continued to think as the convenience store worker bagged his purchases. 

“Sugohaseyo! [Trans: Goodbye! to a worker]” He called out before he exited the store. He got home later than usual, causing his father to ramble on about how he was worried about him. He smiled and shook his head, reassuring his father with the plastic bag of junk food. As he walked further into the small house, he saw that his eldest brother was also here.

“Jooseung?” Joohyuk asked, as if he was seeing a ghost. His brother chuckled and walked over to pull him into a hug.

“We've done this almost every year as a family. I can't miss tonight, even if I live in the city,” He said as he pulled away from Joohyuk. “Besides, this year dad allowed me to bring beer.”

“Beer? Wait, do you mean that--”

“We get to drink beer this time!” Joomin piped up from on the couch, “Even you, Hyukkie!” Joohyuk looked at his father and was surprised when he nodded too.

“I know you shouldn’t be drinking at this age, but your brothers got me this time,” The older man chuckled, “I guess one can of beer won’t hurt anyone.”

The men rushed around to set up for their little occasion, eventually settling on the roof. They all caught up with each other, Jooseung telling them how he’d been promoted last week and was thinking of proposing to his girlfriend. Joohyuk smiled at this, remembering the one time he’d met the girl. She was really nice and he thought that she was perfect for his brother.

“Ahhh, I wish I had a girlfriend… all I have is school at this point,” Joomin joked as he took another handful of chips.

“It’s okay, Min-min, she’ll come around one day,” Jooseung consoled him, patting his back with a smile.

“Oh, haven’t we already met her?” Joohyuk asked. Everyone looked at him in confusion, his father and eldest brother exchanging a look. “Your waifu body pillow?” Joohyuk and Jooseung bursted out laughing, earning a smack on the shoulder from Joomin. Their father just smiled broadly at their banter.

“Shut up…” He hissed at them before stuffing more chips into his mouth, “At least I haven’t been single my whole life.”

“But Joomin-hyung, I’ve never looked for a relationship,” Joohyuk dismissed with a wave of his hand as he took another sip of beer. Despite the bitter taste, he was surprised he was actually enjoying the drink.

“And why’s that, Hyukkie?” Jooseung asked as he took a bite of his sponge cake snack.

“Dunno, I’ve never really been interested in girls,” Joohyuk answered casually as he laid down on his back, looking up at the stars. It grew silent after that, only the sounds of breathing and crickets audible. Joohyuk looked at his family, confused as to why they stopped speaking. His father’s expression had hardened and his brother looked at each other, as if they were having a silent conversation.

“Guys, come on,” Joohyuk exclaimed as he sat back up, breaking the silence, “I didn’t say I was gay, I just said that girls are a lot less interesting than everyone makes them out to be.”

“I know, son… it’s just…” His father trailed off before looking at him. “I wonder if you would’ve been interested in girls had your mother not passed…” Joohyuk looked at his brothers, who shrugged their shoulders.

“Dad--”

“If I had gotten remarried, maybe then? Ah, I feel like I failed you…” His father sighed. “Even if you had said you liked… men, I’d still feel better…. You have no interest in anyone and I just wonder where I went wrong…”

“Dad,” Joohyuk said, scooting to sit closer to his father, “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just like this and it’s fine.” He wrapped his arms around his father and immediately, his brothers moved to hug their father too. The topic didn’t really come up often but every now and then, especially near this day, his father mentioned Joohyuk’s disinterest in dating. He wasn’t sure what he was worrying about, whether it was his loneliness or his off-spring, but all he knew is that his father shouldn’t worry.

“Oh, it’s almost midnight, guys,” Jooseung announced. They broke away from the hug and laid down together. This was why they were on the roof drinking and eating anyways -- the anniversary of their mother’s death.

“This is the day,” Their father started, “The day that the one I loved left me. She was beautiful, smart, and had an amazing soul--” He looked at all three of his children-- “She gave me three smart and handsome sons; Sons that I’m very proud of. She loved you all very much and I’m sure she still does… it’s a shame that she’s already gone… Sometimes I wish I could’ve worked harder so I could afford to buy her that medication… She would’ve still been here if she’d taken the medication…”

“Dad, you worked very hard your whole life,” Joomin spoke up. “You’ve put Jooseung-hyung through private school and university, and helped me get into college. You’re still working so that Hyukkie has something for post-secondary, so there’s no way you could’ve work any harder.” The other boys murmured in agreement -- their father had worker hard, taking on three different jobs to support their family when their mother stopped working.

“Dad, we miss mom too but we can only live for her, now,” Jooseung affirmed sitting up. “Let’s make sure that we live our lives well, just as mom would have wanted us to.” Joomin and Joohyuk sat up in agreement and their father smiled.

“In that case, we should head off to bed now,” Their father spoke up, earning a chorus of groans. “We all have to wake up early tomorrow, so we better get some rest.” The boys cleaned up and reluctantly headed back inside the house. Before Joohyuk went into his room, he saw his father looking out the window with a can of beer in his hands.

“Dad--”

“I know,” His father cut him off, “I’m just admiring the stars. You know how much your mother loved to stargaze.” Joohyuk nodded and sat with his father, silently staring off into space. The room was dark, only being lit up by the moonlight that spilled through the window.

“Does it hurt to look at us, Dad?” Joohyuk suddenly spoke up. He’d always wondered. He and his brothers had always been told they looked like their parents, Joohyuk looked like his mother, Joomin looked a lot like their father, Jooseung looked like a mixture of both. Sometimes, he noticed his father would gaze at him with a sad smile and it made him wonder what he was thinking about.

“Well, I can’t deny that you look like your mother or that your brothers resemble her,” His father chuckled, “but I wouldn’t say it hurts… it’s more like a reminder. A reminder that even though she’s gone, she left behind something that makes life worth living.” Joohyuk nodded his head and looked at his father again. He wondered how the man had made it through nine years of constant reminder of someone who was long gone.

“Dad…” Joohyuk stopped himself, biting his lip. Was it a bad time to ask? He wasn’t sure. Silence drew out for a moment before anything was said.

“What is it, Joohyuk?” His father asked, finally turning to look at him. Joohyuk scratched the back of his neck and looked away. “Go ahead, what do you want to ask?”

“Do you know why she did it?” Joohyuk questioned, resting his hands in his lap again. He heard his father sigh before he spoke again.

“She never really told me…” His father whispered, looking back out the window. “All I do know is that there are certain things that happen in our lives, things we have no control of and things we can’t reverse. One person’s reaction to something is always different from someone else’s.”

“... So her reaction was to take her own life?” Joohyuk inquired and was answered with a nod.

“Whatever happened to your mother was too much for her to live her life happily. Even when I met her, she was like this. I guess you could say ‘old habits die hard’.” Joohyuk pursed his lips and opened his mouth to say something, but never did. He didn’t feel like dragging his father back down memory lane, so he said goodnight and headed off to bed.

As Joohyuk laid in bed, he stared at his bedroom door, thinking over what he’d been told today. _“Getting treated like you’re less than human, like something is horribly wrong with you, being told that you’ll never make it through life because of the way you are, hearing it from your parents? It kills you. You start to believe it. You don’t know anymore.”_ He wondered, _There are certain things in life that we have no control over… I wonder what happened to Xiumin-hyung…_ and with a yawn, he dozed off.

∆

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did this need more emotion? Was it too much?? Lol idek  
> What I do know, is that I'll update sooner next time ~ (also, look at my new and improved formatting :DDD)  
> I hope you enjoyed reading! Thank you~!


	4. I Can Tell (pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What the fuck?”  
> “You're gay, aren't you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more I re-read this story, the sadder certain things become :(  
> Also, warning: It's a bit... gay
> 
> Happy Pride Month!

“Guys, let's take a photo here! The view is amazing!”

 

It was already late October and here they were, all three of them taking photos on Gwangalli beach. This was a dream for Joohyuk. He never thought that he would be able to go on an overnight trip, much less a trip to another city, but here he was. The best part, in his opinion, was that he _finally_ had friends to go with.

 

Lay tossed an arm around Xiumin’s shoulder and smiled as Joohyuk backed up to take their photo. Xiumin looked taken aback by Lay’s arm for a second but he played it off, posing with the boy. The glint in Lay’s eyes was the slightest bit mischievous but Joohyuk asked no questions, curious to see what he’d do.

“Hana… dul… set!” Just before the picture was snapped, Lay leaned down to press a kiss onto Xiumin’s forehead. Immediately, Xiumin pushed him away and glared.

“Yixing, miss me with that shit,” Xiumin growled as the boy backed away quickly. “You might be able to pull that with Joohyuk, but don't you _dare_ do that with me.”

Lay kept his hands up as he moved towards safety -- behind Joohyuk. The taller boy laughed and showed Lay the picture. Lay joined in, laughing until Xiumin stomped his foot, demanding to know why they were laughing so hard. Joohyuk turned the phone around to show him the screen and Xiumin couldn’t help but crack a smile. Lay had managed to get the kiss into the picture, but the shock mixed with mild disgust that was on Xiumin’s face along with the way he flinched away from the younger boy was the highlight of the photo.

“Ew, delete this! It looks so gay!” Xiumin demanded. Joohyuk laughed and took his phone back.

“Hell no, this is iconic!” Joohyuk chuckled. “It’s not everyday you get such great meme photos.” Despite not listening to him, Xiumin grinned at him. He was his best friend, an embarrassing photo or two was long overdue. After taking a few more pictures -- Xiumin making Lay keep an arm’s length away -- their teacher supervisor called them over.

“Okay, everyone! It’s almost 4 p.m. which means that we have to head back to the main building for our activity,” She announced with her loud voice. Joohyuk groaned and Lay patted his shoulder. He knew how much Joohyuk hated group activities. Xiumin swatted away his hand and glared at the boy. The younger pouted at him and took a defensive step away.

“When do we eat?” A student in the group piped up, waving their hand in the air.

“At 6, or at least, that is… if we win our game,” She answered, causing the group to start to murmur about how that sounded shady. “Hey, you can’t just get anything for free!” At this, the group protested about how the trip was actually very expensive and that they were entitled to get food without working for it. “Ah, stop your complaining! We have an agenda, we’re sticking to it!”

She led them back to the campsite and as soon as they arrived, Joohyuk wanted to murder whoever had decided that the game they were about to play was a good idea. Standing in the parking lot, along with the other group, were two camp supervisors holding up a banner that said “MANHUNT”. Half the group cheered while the other half groaned, Xiumin cheering while Joohyuk groaned.

“Joo, what’s Manhunt?” Lay asked as he pointed at the sign.

“A game of death,” Joohyuk grumbled, causing Xiumin to laugh.

“No it’s not! It’s a game of ‘survival’. Basically, either you’re running and trying not to get caught, or you’re searching for people,” Xiumin briefed him, using a few hand gestures. Despite hating the game, it made Joohyuk happy to see that Xiumin was being nice to Lay -- at least for now.

The camp supervisors explained the rules of the game and a coin was tossed to see who was the first hunting team. _Oh gosh…_ Just as he thought. They were running away first.

 

5 minutes after somehow managing to just barely beat the other team, their group settled into the dining hall. Physical exercise was not Joohyuk’s forte, so he sat at the table, still panting slightly. Lay poked fun at him, quite literally poking his red cheeks and chuckling about how the boy had “-13 stamina points”. Xiumin -- for once -- joined in on the fun, poking his sides and exclaiming that despite looking fit, Joohyuk was far from it. Joohyuk made feeble attempts to swat their fingers away but gave up, still needing to catch his breath.

“What are we eating, seonsaeng-nim?” Asked a student from the end of the table. When Joohyuk looked, it was the same exact kid who’d asked when they were eating. This fatass, Joohyuk thought irritatedly -- mind you, this student was of a normal size -- _I swear to fuck, if you ask about food one more time and we end up doing more ‘group bonding’, I will cut your --_

“It’s a surprise!” She answered, hinting at something. Before anyone could make a sound in response, the dinner bell rang.

A surprise it was; The other team served out their dishes -- bibimbap, mandu, and jeon with side dishes. Xiumin nudged the two boys, saying that their hard work had paid off. For once, Joohyuk could agree that doing strenuous amounts of exercise was worth it. 

 

“Ugh, I swear I never want to play that game again,” Joohyuk grumbled as he belly flopped onto a double bed.

It was almost time for them to go to bed, everyone being given an hour to clean up and whatnot. Joohyuk, Lay, and Xiumin were sharing a room, their stuff already packed into the temporary wardrobes. It was a nice room, the soft brown palette and giant fluffy beds -- Xiumin had a bed to himself because he rarely had a bed to himself -- fitting the nature theme. Lay’s laughter cut through the air as he joined Joohyuk, purposefully landing on top of him and drawing a groan from the boy under him.

“Hey, it was fun and totally worth it, though. Right?” Lay laughed, shifting to look at Joohyuk’s face. The latter grunted in response and Lay got up, giving him an impromptu smack on the butt. Joohyuk hissed, hands flying to his rear as he turned to glare at Lay’s shit-eating grin. Both boys’ attention was brought to Xiumin as an uncharacteristic growl escaped his lips.

“Minseok-hyung, are you oka--”

“Joohyuk, didn’t you say you were going to take a shower or something?” Xiumin asked, interrupting Lay’s question. Joohyuk furrowed his eyebrows and rolled over to sit up. Xiumin hadn’t moved from where he was standing, by the wardrobes. His eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth was set in a hard line -- he looked like he wanted to commit murder.

“I did… Hyung are you--”

“I’m fine!” He barked, turning away from the boys. In reality, Xiumin wanted to rip Lay’s head off, but he’d rather not say that in front of Joohyuk. Who did he think he was, going around and invading Joohyuk’s personal space like that?? This wasn’t the first time this had happened and Xiumin hoped to God that this would be the last time.

The maknaes exchanged a look and said nothing more. They weren’t sure why Xiumin’s mood had plummeted, but he was right about the shower. 

“Okay, I’ll be back in a few minutes…” Joohyuk announced tentatively, not really wanting to leave Lay and Xiumin alone together. He did, however, and once Joohyuk had left to go use the bathrooms, Xiumin approached Lay. He was lying on his and Joohyuk’s shared bed, scrolling through his social media when the elder snached the phone from him. He made a face of protest but stopped when he saw his hyung’s face.

“What the fuck?” He questioned in Mandarin, sitting up. Xiumin crossed his arms.

“You're gay, aren't you?” He asked in the same language, eyes narrowed. Lay scoffed and pulled his knees up to rest his arms on top of them. So he'd finally noticed. Lay had liked other boys long before he met Joohyuk and that was a problem in his household back home. When he came to South Korea, he had expected that guys were normally close and touchy with each other; He thought that he'd be able to go unnoticed but other people found out. However, that wasn’t exactly the case.

“Uncalled for…” He mumbled in response before countering with, “And you're not?” When he had met Xiumin a few months ago, he was almost certain that he wasn't as straight as he looked. The way he acted when it came to Joohyuk was like that of a jealous girlfriend. An aggressive, angry, jealous girlfriend.

“Look, I've noticed how you like to get touching with Joohyuk and other guys,” Xiumin replied, ignoring the question, “You need to stop.”

“What, are you gonna fight me?” Lay taunted, pushing Xiumin back. “It's not like it bothers Joohyuk, he's indifferent. The problem is you like him and you're jealous.” Xiumin shoved Lay down at this.

“The fuck I am! I'm not gay!” He yelled.

“Yes you are, I can tell! You're putting on a--” Before Lay could finish, Xiumin jumped onto the bed and swung a fist at him. Lay, being there agile person he was, dodged him and managed to roll over so that he was on top of Xiumin. He pinned his legs and hands down and looked at him. “Bad choice, huh?”

“Get off me! I told you that I'm not gay!” Xiumin shouted, thrashing his body in an attempt to escape. Xiumin knew that he was lying straight through his teeth, but he refused to admit it. Everything the other boy was saying was true, but ever since he told his mother about his sexuality, his family had “corrected” him and made him act homophobic. He hated it, but it was either that or be beaten by someone in his family. Lay grabbed his jaw with one hand and stared him down.

“Stop denying that you're gay and admit that you're jealous, then I'll let you go,” He bargained. Xiumin shook his head violently and Lay chuckled. “You asked for it.” He leaned down and, to Xiumin’s disapproval, kissed him on the cheek.

“Ew! Stop it!” He protested but he wasn’t truly bothered. He actually liked this kind of intimacy but because of the way acted, he couldn't get it. Lay kissed him again, but this time on the nose. “I said get off--!” It was when Lay kissed his lips that he stopped fighting.

It was so uncalled for that Xiumin fell lax. Lay's lips were soft and inviting, to his disdain. After a moment, the younger let Xiumin’s hands go in favour of cupping his face, trying to deepen the kiss. To his surprise the elder responded, moving his lips against the other's. Lay had no idea what had come over him, but he just let his body do whatever.

Xiumin didn't know what made him submit to Lay, whether it was the kiss or the fact that he was tired of hiding. He reached up to put a hand on the back of the dark haired boy’s head and neck, trying to pull him closer. Before he could consider the facts that Lay was younger than him and they were making out on the bed Joohyuk would sleep on, a knock on the door interrupted them.

They pulled apart and almost got up to scramble to the door, if not for the fact that Joohyuk himself was standing in the doorway. Speak of the devil. He stood silently, looking between his two roommates. He didn't look disgusted or shocked but surprised, like he had just figured something out.

“Ohhhh, so it was sexual tension?” He asked them, to their own surprise. “Ah, I completely missed that, I didn't know that was what sexual tension looked like. Well at least you guys don't hate each other like I'd thought.”

“No no no!” The two babbled in Korean, Xiumin getting up to explain.

“Hey, don't worry. I won't judge you,” Joohyuk reassured as he walked over to his wardrobe but that wasn't what they wanted him to think. They both liked Joohyuk, they had just had a moment.

“No, I don't like him like that!” Xiumin exclaimed as he gestured at Lay. Joohyuk chuckled and patted his hyung's shoulder.

“Xiu-Hyung, I won't think less of you, don't worry,” He said with a smile, “but please don't do anything dirty on my bed or while I'm in the room, it'll be very uncomfortable for me.” Lay then noticed that Joohyuk wasn't responding with any sort of sadness or jealousy and that made him wonder.

“Joohyukkie, you're not jealous or anything?” He asked and watch the boy's face change to confusion.

“Am I supposed to be? I'm happy for you guys,” He said as he got onto the bed with Lay.

“But I like you.” Lay mumbled and Joohyuk's expression changed to shock.

“Hey! So do I!” Xiumin piped up as he sat at the end of the bed.

“Really? I… I don't have any words for that…” He responded quietly. The three boys sat in silence for about a minute before Lay spoke up.

“So how do you feel?”

“How do I feel?” Joohyuk repeated. “W-well I don't know… I don't really think about those kinds of things, you know? I mean, I've never really thought about you guys as anything more than friends.” The eldest sighed and flopped on his back.

“So now what?” Xiumin questioned and the silence in the air was his answer: Nothing.

 

The next morning was an awkward one.

Joohyuk was clueless as to what had happened but if he was to take a guess, he would think something happened while he was asleep; the way the two boys avoided each other was very obvious. Every time one of them accidentally touched the other, they would make eye contact for a few seconds before turning away in an embarrassed manner.

“What happened,” Joohyuk asked -- well, it's more like he already knew something happened but he wanted to know what _specifically_ occurred. Xiumin froze, Lay opened and closed his mouth like a fish, neither of them could answer or look at Joohyuk.

“N-nothing happened, Hyukkie,” Xiumin managed to get out, his movements mimicking his voice. Joohyuk chuckled a bit and shook his head.

“Xiu-Hyung, Lay, it’s very obvious that something happened; you guys suck at masking your emotions. You’ve got me curious now so spill it,” Joohyuk spoke as they continued to get ready for breakfast. Neither of his roommates replied so Joohyuk sighed loudly and let it go. He had a feeling that he would find out sooner or later, whether he was told or he saw it with his own two eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is part 1, and part 2 will hopefully be done soon. I actually finished this part awhile ago but as I was adding more, I thought that maybe it would be too long. Splitting it up means more updates :D  
> Where's the story going? Lol idk
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> (jk, I do)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> (actually, maybe not)

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first time I've posted a story, but I hope you like it  
> (ㆁωㆁ*)


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